Section 2 Creation of a Tenancy

• Library: Real Estate Leasing and Landlord-Tenant Actions and Remedies 2011

A residential leasehold is created by the transfer of the exclusive right to possession and control of land to a tenant or lessee. The tenant has a present, possessory estate, and the landlord retains a reversionary interest. In this regard, a residential tenancy is no different than a commercial tenancy.

There are generally four types of tenancies that can be established in a residential landlord-tenant relationship:

1. Tenancy for a term of years

2. Periodic tenancy

3. Tenancy at will

4. Tenancy at sufferance

The tenancies are typically distinguished by (1) how they are created and (2) how they are terminated. A tenancy for a term of years, also called an “estate for years,” is a tenancy for any fixed or computable period of time; it does not need to be a year. It is usually...